CHASM Professor Adele Atkinson Appointed to the academic Research Advisory Group
CHASM Professor Adele Atkinson has been appointed as a member of the OECD’s International Network on Financial Education.
Professor Adele Atkinson
The OECD/INFE is a globally respected body driving innovation in financial literacy policy and practice. It brings together public authorities and key stakeholders from across the world to exchange best practices, produce internationally comparable data, develop evidence-based policy tools, and shape effective financial education programmes at national and international levels. It’s Research Advisory Group (RAG) comprises 15 internationally recognised academics, selected by OECD/INFE Technical Committee members to provide guidance, oral or written comments and advice. As a RAG member, Professor Atkinson will contribute to global policy discussion by joining official Working Groups and Technical Committee meetings, organised by the OECD twice a year.
A globally recognised authority in financial literacy, financial inclusion, and wellbeing, Professor Atkinson has 25 years’ experience spanning academic research, international policy leadership, and public engagement. Her work has played a key role in advancing global understanding of how financial knowledge and inclusive systems can improve lives, particularly for vulnerable and underserved groups.
Before joining CHASM at University of Birmingham in 2022, Adele served as Head of Financial Education at the OECD, where she was led technical assistance programmes in several countries, was responsible for the development and implementation of a toolkit to measure financial literacy and inclusion and made a significant contribution to the financial literacy component of PISA . Her expertise has contributed to high-level reports for the G20 and informed developed with the UN Capital Development Fund.
Professor Atkinson continues to engage in cross-border research and collaboration. Alongside CHASM colleagues Dr Kris Fuzi and Dr Louise Overton, Adele is partnering with the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis on the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility (WEIM) Project, funded by the J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Foundation. This research explores employment precarity among lower-wage workers in the UK. The first two policy briefs—Defining and describing employment precarity in the UK context and The financial health of precarious workers—were published earlier this year, with two more briefs and a joint UK-US event planned for later in 2025.
Other recent examples of Adele’s international collaborations include a three-year study of financial well-being with the University of Tartu in Estonia, a co-authored study with Professor Jerry Buckland (Canadian Mennonite University) and Dr Emily Harle, examining how low-income adults in Canada and the UK use financial literacy and numeracy in their everyday lives.
Professor Atkinson’s appointment to the OECD/INFE RAG reflects her long-standing leadership in financial education and her commitment to research that drives meaningful, inclusive change.